Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal : SPJ : the Official Publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids (CS) are essential drugs in the treatment of several medical conditions. Assuming different roles, physicians and pharmacists play a primary role in prescribing and dispensing these medications to optimize patients' clinical management. The data on assessing knowledge and experience of healthcare professionals toward CS is scarce. Therefore, this study aimed to assess and compare knowledge, experience, and fears towards CS among Egyptian physicians and pharmacists...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the community pharmacists' (CPs) knowledge, attitude, and perception of health-related illness among pilgrims, and to investigate the common diseases and the pattern of medications dispensed by CPs during Hajj and Umrah seasons. METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over two months in 2022, through electronic platform using prevalidated questionnaires adopted from the literature. The questionnaires were divided into 4 sections assessing the CP's knowledge, attitude, and perception about health-related illness, common dispensed agents, and required vaccination during Hajj and Umrah...

BACKGROUND: Parkinson's disease (PD) is one of the major neurodegenerative disorders and the prevalence is expected to increase during the next couple of decades. There is a need for safe and effective therapeutic regimen that can effectively manage this neurotoxicity. The leaves and several other parts of  Cordia dichotoma  are known to possess number of medicinal properties. The purpose of this study was to examine the neuroprotective role of  Cordia dichotoma  in an experimental model of haloperidol-induced P...

INTRODUCTION: The development of thermosensitive in situ systems has become widespread and prospective due to the optimal parameters of the phase transition - in the temperature range from room to physiological. Those properties can provide thermosensitive polymers, for example, poloxamers - as the most common.It is worth noting that the addition of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) changes the parameters of in situ systems, but no systematic study of the effect of APIs has been conducted...

Myocardial injury (MI) is an important pathological driver of mortality worldwide., and arises as a result of imbalances between myocardial oxygen demand and supply. In MI, oxidative stress often leads to inflammatory changes and apoptosis. Current therapies for MI are known to cause various adverse effects. Consequently, the development of new therapeutic agents with a reduced adverse event profile is necessary. In this regard, 2-methoxyestradiol (2ME), the metabolic end-product of oestradiol, possesses anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties...

One of the most prevalent lifestyle diseases, diabetes mellitus (DM) is brought on by an endocrine issue. DM is frequently accompanied by hyperglycemia, a disease that typically results in an excess of free radicals that stress tissues. The medical community is currently concentrating on creating therapeutic medications with roots in nature to lessen the damage associated with hyperglycemia. Solanum xanthocarpum has a number of medicinal benefits. The investigation aimed to produce and analyze niosomal formulations containing S...

BACKGROUND: Epilepsy is a common global neurological disorder. About 30% of epileptic patients are managed with anti-epileptic Drugs (AEDs). Since 2000, Levetiracetam (LEV) has been marketed around the world as an AED under the brand name Keppra, and recently more generics are found in the Saudi market as cheaper alternatives. The objective of this study is to evaluate the bioequivalence of LEV brand and generics available in the Saudi market in mice. METHODS: Pharmacokinetics (PK), liver function test, and behavioral studies were conducted for LEV brand and generic in different groups of Blab/c mice...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: People frequently utilize dietary supplements (DS), notably during the COVID-19 epidemic, despite the lack of data supporting their usefulness and safety in enhancing general health. This study aimed to measure the consumption of DS in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19. Previous studies focused on using dietary supplements for preventing or reducing mental health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1572 participants aged 18-65, from all-over Saudi Arabia who were invited to complete a self-administered questionnaire to measure the consumption of supplements during the pandemic lockdown period...

Plant extracts and their individual components have been used to manage skin aging for several decades. Recently, the discovery of new natural bioactive agents, that not only enhance the skin health but also offer protection against various deleterious factors, such as free radicals, ultraviolet radiation, and microbial infections, has been a potential target by many researchers. The aim of the current work was to investigate the phytochemical profile of an ethanol bark extract from Pseudobombax ellipticum , and to evaluate its antioxidant, antiaging and antibacterial activities in vitro ...

Cisplatin (CIS) is a chemotherapeutic medication for the treatment of cancer. However, hepatotoxicity is among the adverse effects limiting its use. Caroxylon salicornicum is traditionally used for treating inflammatory diseases. In this investigation, three flavonoids, four coumarins, and three sterols were detected in the petroleum ether fraction of C. salicornicum (PEFCS). The isolated phytochemicals exhibited binding affinity toward Keap1, NF-κB, and SIRT1 in silico . The hepatoprotective role of PEFCS (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) was investigated in vivo ...

BACKGROUND: The Ancient system of medicine showed the limelight on the use of herbal remedies and was found to possess minimal side effects and acceptable therapeutic outcomes. In this context, Prosopis juliflora gained importance in managing chronic diseases such as cancer, dermatological diseases, and chronic inflammatory disorders. Hence, P. juliflora was selected for further investigation associated with diabetes and inflammation. AIM: The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-diabetic activity in chemically induced experimental rats and explore the nature of phytocomponents that may produce this activity...

The growing concerns and cases of COVID-19 with the appearance of novel variants i.e., BA.2.75. BA.5 and XBB have prompted demand for more effective treatment options that could overcome the risk of immune evasion. For this purpose, discovering novel small molecules to inhibit druggable proteins such as PLpro required for viral pathogenesis, replication, survival, and spread is the best choice. Compounds from the Dark chemical matter (DCM) database is consistently active in various screening tests and offer intriguing possibilities for finding drugs that are extremely selective or active against uncommon targets...

BACKGROUND: Recently, many drugs have been approved for halting overweight and obesity-few types of research shifted to using Anti-obesity medications (AOM) solely for well-being and shape-keeping. OBJECTIVE: This narrative review's objective was to explore the use of AOM in relation to their medical indications, efficacy, and cardiovascular safety. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We have conducted a narrative review of the literature on approved/non-approved AOM used for obesity and overweight...

Oxidative stress induced reactive oxygen species has been implicated as the primary molecular mechanism in the pathogenesis of debilitating retinal diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, neovascularization and age-related macular degeneration. Nanoceria (cerium oxide nanoparticles) has recently received much attention, because of its superior and regenerative radical scavenging properties. This review focuses on retinal applications of nanoceria and functionalized nanoceria. Studies in animal models showed that nanoceria possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic properties and preserves retinal morphology and prevents loss of retinal functions...

BACKGROUND: Limited reports addressing physicians' understanding of the various low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) targets/statin intensity required for treating the various dyslipidemia patient populations in Saudi Arabia are available. Therefore, the current study assessed the perceptions and beliefs of practicing clinicians in Saudi Arabia regarding the current practice for management of dyslipidemia and potential perceived barriers to adherence to lipid guidelines encountered in their regular clinical practice...

The current study aimed to evaluate the phytochemical composition, quality control, and antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, antihyperglycemic activities, and toxicity assessment of Crataegus monogyna Jacq ( C. monogyna ) and Crataegus laciniata Ucria ( C. laciniata) fruits aqueous extracts. The quality control of the plant material revealed that it is free of heavy metals and the acidity and ash parameters comply with international standards. HPLC-DAD analysis revealed the presence of eight phenolic compounds in the C...

Non-small cell lung carcinoma is a challenging disease worldwide. This study aims to determine whether combining erlotinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, with cabozantinib, a mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met) inhibitor, would have an augmented therapeutic benefit on A549 cells. The combination of erlotinib and cabozantinib (5 µM) inhibited A549 cell viability compared to each monotherapy at ≥ 10 µM as confirmed by the MTT assay. Combination therapy also has a more potent inhibition of cellular migration than monotherapy using the wound-healing assay...

Garcinia livingstonei is a traditional herbal medicine that showed beneficial health effects and bioactivities. Four compounds have been isolated from the plant leaves and were elucidated as lupeol, betulin, podocarpusflavone A, and amentoflavone. The inhibitory activities of G. livingstonei extract and isolated metabolites against fatty acid synthase (FAS), α-glucosidase, and xanthine oxidase (XO) were investigated in vitro . The affinity of the compounds toward the studied enzymes was investigated in silico ...

Onion contains many dietary and bioactive components including phenolics and flavonoids. Spiraeoside (quercetin-4-O-β-D-glucoside) is one of the most putative flavonoids in onion. Several antioxidant techniques were used in this investigation to assess the antioxidant capabilities of spiraeoside, including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH·) scavenging, N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine radical (DMPD•+ ) scavenging, 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonate) radical (ABTS•+ ) scavenging activities, cupric ions (Cu2+ ) reducing and potassium ferric cyanide reduction abilities...

Metastatic breast cancer is a prime health concern and leading health burden across the globe. Previous efforts have shown that protein-protein interaction between Metadherin and Staphylococcal nuclease domaincontaining 1 (SND1) promotes initiation of breast cancer, progression, therapy resistance and metastasis. Therefore, small drug molecules that can interrupt the Metadherin and SND1 interaction may be ideal to suppress tumor growth, metastasis and increases chemotherapy sensitivity of triple negative breast cancer...